Reasons for Proposal
1. Reason for proposal
Article 11(1) of the Constitution states the principle of equality by prescribing that “All citizens shall be equal before the law, and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic, social or cultural life on account of sex, religion or social status.”
Meanwhile, since individual acts are prohibited in discrimination in limited specific areas and subjects, the request is made for a framework act on equality to be established as a general act to prohibit discrimination in every area in order to supplement existing limitations of current Acts.
Therefore, it is intended to establish the Act on Equality as a general act to prevent discrimination and achieve practical equality in every area.
2. Main content
A. The purpose of the Act is to achieve dignity and equality of individuals by prohibiting discrimination in every area of political, economic, social, and cultural life, by effectively rectifying any damages from discrimination and deterring discrimination (Article 1 of draft).
B. In the Act, discrimination means the action to separate, distinguish, restrict, exclude, or disadvantageously treat individuals or groups based on gender, medical history, age, country of origin, people of origin, race, skin color, area of origin, physical characteristics such as appearance, genetic information, marriage, pregnancy or childbirth, family composition or circumstances, religion, ideological or political views, criminal history, gender preference or identity, education, employment, and social status, etc. (hereinafter referred to as “gender, etc.”) in any area including employment, etc. (Article 3(1) of draft)
C. If the action appears as if a neutral standard is applied but the standard results in a disadvantage to specific groups or individuals and the rationality or justification of the standard is not proved, the publically open expression or act encouraging bullying or sexual harassment by the reason for gender, etc., or separation, differentiation, exclusion, or disadvantageous treatment of specific individuals or groups is deemed as discrimination (Article 3(2) through 3(5) of draft).
D. Unavoidable case due to the properties of a specific job or implementation of a project, instance of temporary favorable treatment of specific individuals or groups to rectify existing discrimination, and the case that the behavior is not deemed as discrimination in accordance with established or revised acts and subordinate statutes, established or executed policies, or other acts having aforesaid content are not deemed as discrimination (Article 4 of draft).
E. When judging whether a behavior consisting of two or more reasons for prohibiting discrimination including gender, etc. belongs to discrimination, the discriminatory behavior shall be judged based on the totality of each reason rather than individual reasons for discriminating (Article 6 of draft).
F. The country and local governments shall survey and study existing Acts and subordinate statutes, ordinances & rules, various systems, and policies which are in contradiction to the Act and shall correct them to meet the purpose of the Act (Article 9 of draft).
G. The President shall establish a master plan for correction and prevention of discrimination (hereinafter “master plan”) every five years with respect to recommendations to be submitted by the National Human Rights Commission and the heads of public administrative agencies, special cities, metropolitan cities, special self-governing cities, and special self-governing provinces shall establish yearly execution plans adhering to the master plan and shall take required administrative and financial measures (Article 10 and Article 11 of draft).
H. The types of prevention of discrimination are embodied and stated for each area of employment, supply or use of goods/services, education and job training of educational institutions, and the execution of Acts and subordinate statutes and policies (Article 12 through 32 of draft).
I. Victims of discrimination may make a petition to National Human Rights Commission, National Human Rights Commission may issue a corrective order if the person who was subject to making such corrections do not execute the recommendations without proper reason, National Human Rights Commission may impose penalties or fines if the corrective order is not executed, and National Human Rights Commission may support legal proceeding of the case if the case is deemed serious (Article 33 through 36 and Article 39 of draft).
J. The court may order temporary measures to be adhered to including the suspension of discrimination until ruling on the case upon the request by the victim, and if discrimination is deemed malicious and damage is incurred by the victim due to discrimination, the amount of compensatory damages may be specified in the range not less than three (3) times and not more than five (5) times the amount of loss (Article 40 and Article 41 of draft).
K. When solving the dispute in relation to the Act, the fact of existence of discrimination shall be proved by the person who asserts that he/she was discriminated, and the counterparty of the person asserting existence of discrimination shall bear the burden of proof that there was no discrimination but rather there was proper reason (Article 42 of draft).
L. The person who asserts that he/she was damaged by discrimination in employment may request to disclose the information on related data and the employer or appointment authority holder shall not refuse such request (Article 43 of draft).
M. The person who asserts that he/she was discriminated and the related persons shall not be put in a disadvantage in retaliation for bringing forth a petition or legal proceeding, for testifying or evidencing, for submitting data, or for replying to the Commission (Article 44 of draft).
